happens. thanks to all my guests tonight. . i'm charles hodson. >> good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. you are watching world business today. these are our top stories, this friday, july 8th. news corp boss rupert murdoch folds his tabloid. shuttle "atlantis" files up for one final foray.

and harry potter fans unite for one last wave of the wand. it's the end of the "news of the world." that shamed british sunday newspaper is shutting down. after this weekend's edition and 168 years of history, the last edition of the "news of the world" will have rolled off the printing presses. >> now, as outrage spread from the public to the politicians and finally to the advertisers, rupert murdoch took decisive action. his son, james, announced the paper would close after this coming weekend and that all the staff would be out of a job. james, of course, is the chairman of news international. he posted his statement online for all to see. the key line in that statement, the news of the world is in the business of holding others to account, but it failed when it

came to itself. charles? >> it appears that failure could lead to the arrest of this man. former editor andy coorson. reporting suggest that he is supposed to turn himself over this morning in the phone hacking scandal that went on underhis stewardship. coulson resigned in 2007 after an editor was jailed for hacking into the phones of royal aides. coulson then joined the staff of david cameron as director of communications. that was when mr. cameron was the leader of the opposition. but coulson stayed on to the job until the start of the year, about five months ago. in the last few minutes, we heard that david cameron, the british treatment, will be holding a press conference at half past the hour, 9:30 british time, 10:30 central european

time. we will bring that live to you. the closure of the "news of the world" may feel like the end of an era. but is it really? already we are hearing reports that the murdoch empire is preparing a replacement. dan rivers joins us now from outside the "news of the world" offices in east london. dan, raining heavily there, i can see. but good-bye "news of the world" hello "sun on sunday?" >> the final edition of the "news of the world" is being put together by staff behind me who have been told yesterday that they will be their last edition after 168 years, the world's biggest selling english language newspaper is to fold as everyone here starts to take in the news that this paper is going out of business and comes to terms with the seismic changes in the uk

media landscape. it didn't take long for staff from the "news of the world" to end up in the local pub in britain, losing your job normally ends in drinking a pint, and these journalists had a lot to reflect on. the 168-year-old tabloid is a british institution. the phone hacking scandal left it in a political vortex, from which it couldn't escape. its owner, rupert murdoch, realized his entire empire was at risk of being tainted. one can only imagine the conversation he had with his son james, who runs the uk business. >> i feel regret. clearly the practices of certain individuals did not live up to the standards and quality of journalism that we believe in and that i believe in. >> reporter: it was the revelation that a murdered

school girl had been targeted by journalists from the paper who eavesdropped on her cell phone messages that was the beginning of the end for the paper. hacking into cell phone messages is illegal in the uk. the scandal that the "news of the world" had been systematical systematically eavesdropping on people for years had been swirling around westminster, with some telling politicians that it was the work of a rogue reporter. >> i believe he was the only person. >> reporter: but there was a lingering suspicion that former editors like rebecca brooks work remains chief executive of the parent company, must have sanctioned the hacking. something she always denied. she's a close friend with prime minister david cameron, and an awkward fact, but that didn't stop him from saying this this government is making sure the fact that the public, murder victims, terror victims who had

their phones hacked is disgraceful. >> reporter: one thing that went wrong for the prime minister was the decision to hire this man as communications guru, andy coulson is a former news of the world editor who lost his job at number 10 and may now be facing criminal charges. this man's son died in a terrorist attack and thinks sensitive cell phone messages were accessed by coulson's reporters. >> the thought that somebody may have been listening to me begging for david to phone home was very difficult. i thought we were in a dire place, i didn't think anybody could make it darker. >> reporter: for rupp pert murdoch the dramatic decision to close "news of the world" doesn't mean the scandal is over. there is still a police investigation to be faced. on sunday, one thing will end. the "news of the world" printing presses will stop for the very last stop. well, the leader of the opposition in the uk, ed

miliband held a press conference within the last hour talking about the possible takeover by news corp of the uk broadcast, bskyb saying that should be put on hold and referred to the competition commission. and he talked about the closure of the "news of the world" and talking about really the need for action. >> a strong, vital press is at the heart of our democracy. we must protect it and defend it. we all know politicians must be wary of tampering with the precious institution of the free press. yet there come moments when it is up to us to defend not ourselves, but the public from parts of the press. this is one of those moments. we must not only speak for the public but also show we can act on their behalf.

>> reporter: the prime minister, david cameron, is due to speak in the next half an hour or so. and i think everyone is waiting to see what he has to say about this takeover by news corp of bskyb, whether he will weigh in on that argument. also what he'll have to say about rebecca brooks, the chief executive, who still remains in her post, despite the paper she used to edit is closed with the loss of 200 jobs. >> dan rivers joining us there from the news international newsrooms there in the east of london. thank you very much. andrew? the reaction from those who were hacked by the paper has been swift. earlier, fionnuala sweeney spoke with rose gentle in scotland. her son was killed in iraq. >> i'm quite happy that that

trsh newspaper is going to be shut down. will he open another paper up? >> reporter: what do you think should be done if these allegations are proven? >> if they're proven, they should go to court. everybody responsible should be put in front of a judge and if they're guilty, they should be sentenced. >> what would you like to say to those responsible? >> i would like to know why they felt they needed to hack my phone when it was concerning my son, i had lost a season. >> the outrage of the "news of the world" phone hacking is likely to be felt by other papers. >> the guardian first broke the news of the illegal hacking by

"news of the world." richard quest spoke with michael white, assistant editor of "the guardian" newspaper. he sa >> i think rupert murdoch or james murdoch, his son, who runs the show in this country, has attempted to sacrifice the "news of the world" in order to safe the bskyb bed and to save rebecca brooks. why rebecca brooks? why shouldn't she be given a healthy payoff, sent on her way? >> the longer she stays, the harder that becomes, isn't it? >> is a mystery to us all. murdoch always liked and admired rebecca. she can bef formidable personal

figure. she lives near david cameron. they have lunch together, three or four meetings this last christmas. we are getting news that andy coulson, head of communications for david cameron who resigned from that job, just arrived at a london police station. there has been a lot of newspaper speculation that coulson could soon be arrested within days over his role in the phone hacking affair. we'll continue to follow that side of the story and bring you up to date when we get more details. despite the sordid revelations and the closure of the newspaper, the share police of the parent company, news corporation, has not suffered much at all. it was on the rise, actually, until the fresh allegations came

in. now, when there was a fall on wednesday, that went into nurse. news corp stock continued to slide before it ended 3.8% down on its price before the scandal brok broke. >> on the nasdaq on thursday, news corp shed less than a quarter of 1%. investors are not too scared about the bombshell announcement. the reason is the paper accounts for very little of news corp's earnings, despite the fact that it's the uk's biggest selling newspaper. in some ways they could have afforded to let it go. news corp does not public numbers for its separate businesses in its earnings reports, but it said publishing

accounted for about $24.5 billion of total revenue in round numbers. the whole scandal has thrown into doubt news corp's acquisition of british sky broadcasting. rupert murdoch long courted the satellite tv provider, but there's opposition to a takeover. well over 1 0,000 individual objections or commentaries on the potential takeover have been lodged. a decision on whether that takeover should be allowed to proceed was supposed to have been coming today. but it's likely to be delayed. that could be a bit of an understatemen understatement. >> okay. let's bring you up to speed now with the stock market action. certainly it's been a strong day in asia with decent gains across the board. in europe, markets are all pointing north as well, charles. >> let's look and see watts going on in europe. here's where the numbers stand

now. we have been seeing some decent gains from the banks. if we can look at the numbers, please. any way, here we are. up. this is decent. on top of the rally we've been seeing, it's, i suppose, heartening if you're a bullish investor to see these continuing gains. nothing too spectacular. 0.8% for the if thecy. more than 0.1% for the dax. zurich up 0.23%. we had that quarter of percentage point interest rate hike on wednesday that was effectively in the price we may see lingering optimism from thursday when the ecb said it would still use portuguese debt as loan collateral, despite the rating being cut. so the european authorities, if you like, sticking two fingers to the idea that portugal is

producing junk bonds at the moment. they will accept these junk bonds, andrew. a positive day here in the markets in asia to round off the week. it looks like the risk game is back on. it began last week. there has been quite a lot of money starting to come back into the emerging market after they fell out of favor for much of the year. if you look at the first six months or so of this year, the world index, according to morgan stanley capital index, shows it's been out-performing the emerging markets by a rate of 3-1. that seems to be turning around. analysts are saying that because the debt crisis in greece is settling and there's light another the end of the tunnel with the china inflation story that risk appetites are improving and we have seen it certainly, a good week and a good last week as well for the

eamerica emerging markets. good trade numbers suggesting exports are on the rebound in japan. the hang seng with a near 1% gain. shanghai back in the grain as well. australia up by more than 1%. australia a good barometer for global appetite and an indicator of what investors think about the state of the global economy, whether it's growing or not growing so strongly. it looks like there's a bit of optimism creeping back in. those job numbers will be crucial. >> absolutely. yeah. in fact, even before that, on wall street, a solid rally on thursday with updebeat data. closely related to the jobs numbers are the private adp private sector jobs report. the payroll processing company said the private sector added 157,000 jobs in june. by the end of the session, there were gains of more than 1% each for the nasdaq and the s&p 500.

the dow, meanwhile, chalked up 0.75% gain. looking to the start of the new session, the big numbers, the nonfarm payrolls out friday. i think the data that more people watch around the world's financial markets than anything else. economists we have been speaking to forecast a gain of 125,000 jobs, plus 125,000 jobs in the month of june. however, that is not enough, because the consensus is that under the present circumstances the united states economy needs to create 150,000 to 200,000 jobs every months, and that's just to keep pace with population growth. so demographics, demographics, demographics. let's look at where the u.s. futures stand in the pre-market action. slightly mixed. broader market off a bit. but the good news is both the dow and the nasdaq are looking

right now for gains of around about a tenth of 1%. andrew? now, top u.s. politicians gathered at the white house trying to beat a looming deadline to raise the nation's borrowing limb. but it's hardly a meeting of minds. and nasa is fueling up "atlantis," hoping to launch the final shuttle flight in a few hours from now. but there's one thing that could still get in the way.

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credibility of the new york hotel maid. the imf's new majing director will find out on friday if she will face an inquiry into her behavior. a french court will announce whether they will launch an investigation into her position as french finance minister. christian lagarde denies any wrong doing. and the united nations says world food prices are approaching a record high, largely due to the soaring price of sugar. it says sugar prices rose 14% in june, offsetting falling prices for other foods. economists are concerned that volatile food prices will lead to more economic and social instability and rising interest rates. andrew? charles, in washington, the clock continues to tick down to the deadline to reach a debt-cutting deal that would raise the nation's borrowing

limit. president obama and top congressional leaders met at the white house on thursday and plan to meet again on sunday to hammer out an agreement. the president offered to consider cuts to popular social programs as part of a 2 trillion to $4 trillion deal. but those democrats who might go along with that say they also want to eliminate some tax breaks for the wealthy. republicans say their bottom line has not changed. >> everything is on the table except raising taxes on the american people. >> nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. and the parties are still far apart on a wide range of issues. now, u.s. treasury officials say the debt limit must be raised by august 2nd or the u.s. risks defaulting on some of its borrowings. staying in the united states, apple has announced a downloading milestone, that's our big number today. apple says users have downloaded

more than 15 billion apps, applications from its online app store. the california-based tech giant says its 2 million users in 90 countries have reached that milestone, just three years after the app store opened. apple credits independent developers with creating pore than 400,000 individual apps. it says it has paid them more than $2.5 billion. the big number also indicates the rate of downloads appears to be accelerating at a rapid pace. >> just when you thought it couldn't go faster. >> we didn't believe it would happen five years ago. there it is, andrew. >> it is extraordinary. as i say, it gets faster and faster. certainly watching the rate my son can download apps, it's mind boggling. still ahead here, shuttle "atlantis" is now on the launch pad, nasa prepares for one last hurrah.

after 30 years, the u.s. space shuttle program is set for its final launch later this day. that is if the weather holds. you're looking now at live pictures of the shuttle "atlantis" at the john f. kennedy space center in florida. just two hours ago mission control gave the go-ahead to fuel the tanks, but nasa

forecasters say there's only a 1 in 3 chance that the weather will be good enough for launch. there's been 135 missions since the first launch back in 1981. and they ain't cheap. the average cost of launching a space shuttle is about $450 million a mission. as we said, the weather is the factor for the shuttle "atlantis" and its crew. let's go to jen delgado keeping tabs on all of this joins us from the cnn international weather center. it will be a hugely watched event, not just around the world but particularly in the u.s. >> i hear there's thousands if not a million people out there watching this because, you know, they're reminiscing about the history of space shuttle "atlantis." we said we expect the launch to happen later on today. but as i show you on the radar, things have improve the dramatically, if you can see over the past 12 hours over the eastern coastline of florida, things have settled down, but we have a tropical wave we're watching. this one has about a 30% chance

of becoming a tropical cyclone, nonetheless it will increase the thunderstorm coverage across the region as we go through today, tomorrow and the next several days ahead. for the launch today, here's the forecast. expecting a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms out there, southwest winds 15 to 20 kph, temperatures 28 degrees. launch time 1526. if it doesn't get off today, by tomorrow we have a bit better of a chance to lift off. still the weather is not going to be ideal for the next several days. more "world business today" in just a moment. stay with us.

from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. >> and i'm andrew stevens at cnn hong kong. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." let's go back to our top story. the uk's most popular sunday newspaper, "news of the world" is shutting down. after a string of new phone hacking allegations, its bosses said the last edition would hit newsstands on sunday. and andy coulson has turned himself into the police in central london. they said yesterday they wanted to talk to him about the hacking saga, and claims of his payments to two police officers. and this woman, news international chief executive and former "news of the world" editor, rebekah brooks, formerly rebekah wade, has taken plenty of flack. she's been facing calls to step down but denies knowledge of the hacking. want to show you some live

pictures, charles, waiting for the british prime minister, david cameron to speak. he is expected to speak very soon. mr. cameron has come in for his fair share of criticism. he employed andy coulson, former "news of the world" editor, the man at the center of a lot of these hacking allegations. he employed andy coulson as his head of communications. coulson has since resigned. there is newspaper speculation rife in the uk that coulson may be arrested in connection with the hacking in the next few days. waiting for the prime minister to address those issues. we'll bring you that live when it happens. earlier we spoke to one of rebekah brooks' former colleagues, paul mcmullen, former climbist for "news of the world." he's less than impressed with his old bosses. >> so far five of my colleagues have been arrested. the police asked me to come in for questioning to arrest me as well at scotland yard. for the last year our bosses, rebekah brooks, murdoch's right

hand woman in britain, and also the editor, andy coulson have been saying it's the reporters. it's nothing to do with us. we didn't know it was going on. that was an outrageous stance for our bosses to take, throwing the reporters to the wolves. among the celebrities, politicians and royal aides hacked is lord prescott. the former deputy prime minister, john prescott has led for calls for action against the tabloid. despite the news that the paper will close, prescott says it is not enough. >> well, it's a typical murdoch management operation. it's like saying it's only a one rogue reporter they told us for years. i kept contesting that. eventually when i took it to the court, the police weren't doing their job properly, we began to get real action on what happened. to close down a factory and for the workers to pay the price when none of the chiefs have

actually resigned teams to feel if you cut off the arm there's nothing wrong with the body. it's a whole culture of operation in the murdoch press. >> lord prescott there. after the announcement, he warned on twitter this won't stop us, murdoch. andrew? >> yes, he's dogged, is john prescott. probably little consolation to the 200 or so staff at the tabloid that will be thrown out of work, but murdoch's move is being called brilliant and shrewd, because the media mogul has a big fish to fry. we're talking about bskyb. to talk about that, luis cuba joins us, market analyst with bcg partners. luis, by closing down "news of the world," will that help rupert murdoch secure the percentage of bskyb that he

doesn't already own? >> well, a lot of shareholders are looking for more money than is currently on the table. murdoch was offered 8 pounds a share. and the stock's currently trading above that. a lot of them are expecting more money, maybe 9 pounds, one big firm manager asking for 11 pounds. that's one side of it. the other side is whether the politicians will allow it to go through. that's the big question. jeremy hunt, the culture secretary in the uk had been expected to approve the deal a week ago. now it's viewed that he will be delaying any decision as to whether news corp is allowed to buy bskyb. that is the big thing. will they be allowed to buy it? at the moment the only reason it can be turned down is need yao plurality rules, which is the reason sky news channel has to be hived off. the big concern is what news comes out over the next month or

two while the decision is being delayed. the one final thing that could stop news international buying bskyb is whether the regulator, the media regulator in the uk decides if news international is not a fit and proper owner of british media assets. that's very unlikely to happen, but it all depends on what is unearthed of the whole "news of the world." i can't tell you that. >> yeah. sure, we have to wait and watch the way revelations are pouring out, we don't have a clue on what could happen from here on in. coming back to this media plurality -- i can't say it now -- >> plurality. >> thank you very much. you get a word, you just get stuck on it? coming back to that issue, is it clear that murdoch is facing an uphill battle to get it past this? or does it look to you like he should be able to overcome that obstacle? >> the rules are the rules. the government has looked at

this and before the news of the world scandal broke, the government's opinion was from a purely media plurality point of view, provided sky news was hived off, then murdoch would be allowed to buy bskyb. if that's the rules. that's the rules. if the decision they came to is that it would be okay, it's duff cu difficult for the government to do an about-turn because of the "news of the world" scandal. that is the problem. this is a british government, a conservative government. they like to be open for business. that's what they like to be. it's very difficult to rewrite the rules because of a furrority in the media. >> looking at rupert murdoch as

a media mogul in the uk this is unprecedented. the amount of criticism, the number of politicians lining up to denounce him. do you think that this is a key sort of indicator on what he can expect on moral issues now? >> you have to remember, in the uk we have a history with media moguls. do you remember robert maxwell? the man who committed suicide off his yacht because he sort of defrauded his media empire? you know, you have to remember, that is the background. now, mr. murdoch is a very astute player. many say that his move by closing the "news of the world" is bold and brave. >> louise, i will have to interrupt you there for a moment, i'm afraid. woe just got the prime minister, david cameron, just about to address newsmenme mennewsmen. let's listen in. >> families who lost loved ones, sometimes defending our country,

that these people could have had their phones hacked into in order to generate stories for a newspaper is simply disgusting. i cannot think what was going through the minds of the people who did this. that they can hack into anyone's phone is disgraceful. but to hack into the phone of millie dowder, a young kirl missing from her parents who was later found to be murdered, is truly despicable. but this scandal is not just about some journalists on one newspaper. it's not even just about the press. it's also about the police, and, yes, it's about how politics works and about politicians, too. i want to be very frank about how, as a country, we should deal with this. people want to know that three things are going to happen. one, that action will be taken to get to the bottom of the

specific revelations and allegations about phone hacking, about police investigations, and the rest of it. two, that action will be taken to learn the wider lessons for the future of the press in our country. and, three, people want clarity, real clarity, about how all this came to pass. about the responsibilities we all have for the future. that's what this country expects at this time of crisis and concern. and i want to make sure that everything that needs to be done will be done. first, we need action to get to the bottom of the specific revelations and allegations that we've seen. it is clear that there have been some illegal and utterly unacceptable practices taking place at "news of the world" and possibly else where. there is now a large-scale and well resourced police investigation underway.

now, of course, in 2006, we didn't have this police investigation, but we can now see that was plainly inadequate. th this, in itself, requiring investigation. in a separate allegation, that police officers took payments. that is being investigated by senior officers, and with my full support they brought in the independent police complaints commission to oversee this. so, for those worried about the police investigating the police, this now has full independent oversight. but i think we should be clear, police investigations can only get you so far. what people really want to know is what happened and how is it allowed to happen? that is why the deputy prime minister and i have agreed that it's right and proper to establish a full public inquiry to get to the bottom of what happened. a judge needs to be in charge so that there's no question that it is totally independent and

things are done properly. these are the questions that need answering. why did the first police investigation fail so abysmaly. what was going on at the "news of the world"? what was going on at other newspapers? the bulk of the work of this inquiry can only happen after the police investigation has finished. that's what the law requires. but that doesn't mean we can't do anything now. we will consult now with select committees and others on the remits, the powers, and what we can get started we will get started. i want everything and i want everyone to be clear, everything that happened is going to be investigated. the witnesses will be questioned by a judge under oath. and no stone will be left unturned. but we need action as well to learn the wider lessons for the future of the press. this is something we can get on with straight away. even while the police investigation is still ongoing. that is why i want to establish

a second inquiry to begin at earliest opportunity, ideally now this summer. this should be conducted by a credible panel of figures from a range of different backgrounds who demand the respect and confidence of the public. they should be truly independent without motive but to seek the truth and clean up the press. the second inquiry should look at the culture and ethics of the press. they should look at how our newspapers are regulate the and make recommendations for the future. it is vital that our press is free. that is an essential component for our democracy and way of life. press freedom does not mean the press should be above the law. yes, there is much excellent journalism in britain today. but i think it's now clear to everyone that the way the press is regulated today is not working. let's be honest, the press complaints commission failed. in this case, in a hacking case,

frankly it was pretty much absent. therefore we have to conclude it's lacking in rigger. there's a strong case for saying it's institutionally conflicted. as a result it lacks public confidence. i believe we need a new system entirely. it will be for the inquiry to recommend what the system should look like. but my starting presumption is that it should be truly independent. independent of the press, so the public will know newspapers will never be responsible for policing themselves, but vitally independent of government so the public will know that politicians will not trying to control or muzzle a press that must be free to hold politicians to account. this new system of regulation will strike the balance between an individual's right to privacy and what is in the public interest. above all, it should uphold the proper decent standards we expect. i've already spoken to the deputy prime minister about this, in the days ahead we'll

meet with the leader of the opposition to discuss exactly what both inquiries should cover and how they should be run. if we are going to discuss the way the press is regulated in the future, it would be much better to do this on across party basis. people are also asking about the perspective of the bskyb bid. as i have repeatedly said, governments must follow the proper legal processes and procedures. that is exactly what jeremy hunt, the culture secretary is doing. his role is to take the advice of independent regulators. as his department made clear this morning, given the events of recent days, this will take some time. but there is, as i said at the outset, a third question this scandal asks of us and frankly it's not an easy one for me to answer. it is my responsibility to try. how did we get here? because as we're considering the devastating revelations of the past few days, it is no good just pointing the finger at this

individual journalist, or that individual newspaper. it's no good actually just criticizing the police. the truth is, to coin a phrase, we've all been in this together, the press, politicians and leaders of all parties, yes, including me. we have not gripped this issue. during the last government, a police investigation was undertaken, it was inadequate, but not enough was done. there were reports from the information commissioner and they went unheeded. there were select committee reports on phone hacking fwh, bo follow up. throughout this, the government did nothing. neither did the opposition. to be fair, it is difficult for politicians to call for more regulation of the media, if we do so we are accused of wanting to stifle a free press or free speech. but the deeper truth is this -- there is a less noble reason.

because party leaders were so keen to win the support of newspapers, we turned a blind eye to the need to sort this issue, to get on top of the bad practices, to change the way our newspapers are regulated. it is like an mp's expenses. the people in power knew things weren't right but they didn't do enough, quickly enough until the full mess of the situation was revealed. now, when the, if you like, the scandal hits and the truth is plain for everyone to see, there are two choices. you can downplay it and deny that the problem is deep, or accept the seriousness of the situation and deal with it. i want to deal with it. these inquiries, i believe, give us a fresh chance for a fresh start. and i want to take it. look, it is healthy that politicians and journalists speak to each other and know

each other. to me, democracy is government by explanation, we need the media to explain what we're trying to do. this is a wake-up call. over the decades, on the watch of labor leaders and conservative leaders, politicians and the press spent time courting support, not confronting the problems. well, it's on my watch that the music has stopped. i'm saying, loud and clear, that things have got to change. the relationship needs to be different in future. i'm not going pretend there's some nirvana of two separate worlds relating to total transparent sip and per inspection. that's not real life, but we can do a hell of a lot better than what we've done so far. as this scandal shows, while it is vital that a free press can tell the truth to power t is equally important that those in power tell the truth to the press.

now, let me just say this about a couple of the individuals concerned. first, andy coulson, who work fed for four years as my director of communications. he resigned from "news of the world" because of the things that happened on his watch. i decided to give him a second chance and no one has ever raised serious concerns about how he did his job for me. but the second chance didn't work out, and he had to resign all over again. the decision to hire him was mine, mine alone. i take full responsibility for it. on the case of rebekah brooks. as i said, i don't think it's right for the prime minister to start picking and choosing who should run, who shouldn't run media organizations. but it's been reported that she offered her resignation over this, in this situation, i would have taken it. but before i take your questions, let me just say this -- for people watching this scandal unfold, there is something disturb being what

th dissiturbing about what they se. think about who they put their trust in, the press, the police, and politicians. all of them have been let down. after the questions are over and the truth found out, i want a police that's proved itself beyond reproach. a political system that people think is on their side. and a press that is, yes, free and vigorous that investigates and entertains, that holds those in power to account and occasionally maybe even regularly drives them completely mad. but in the end, we need a free presses that is also clean and trustworthy. that is what people want. that is what i want. and i will not rest until we get it. thank you for listening. very happy to take some questions. let's start with chris shipp from itv. >> prime, thank you very much. we have asked you many times about your decision to appoint andy coulson as your main

communications man. you have always said that he resigned and thereforepaid the price. given that hundreds of people lost their jobs yesterday because of what is alleged to have happened under his watch, given the editor of "the guardian" warned you what they had, no, i didnisn't it time yo screwed up, you got it wrong and you apologize? >> i made a decision to employ andy coulson. he resigned from "news of the world." he said at the time he didn't know what was happening on his watch. he should have known what was happening on his watch. he paid the price. he resigned. i took the decision. my decision, my decision alone to give him a second chance. he worked for me in opposition. he worked for me in government but the second chance didn't work. he had to resign all over again for what happened under his watch at the "news of the world." that is what happened. i don't think it's particularly meaningful today to try and put a didn't gloss on it or go over

it again in a different way. that's what i decided. that's what i did. people will judge me for that, i understand that. that's what happened. that's the decision i made. that's what i'm going to say about it. clearly now -- >> how should people judge you now? >> people will judge if it's right to give someone a second chance or whether they don't. i don't know what these people at news international did know or didn't know. frankly, i don't think any of us know what they did know or different know. the key thing is they will be investigated by the police. when they get investigated by the police, when the truth is out, it won't be a question of whether or not they have jobs or resign from those jobs, it's a question of whether or not they will be prosecuted, convicted, whether they will be punished. that is what needs to happen. we need a proper and full police investigation, then the public inquiry that i set out clearly today. those are my responsibilities. address prime minister people want to know are you going to sort this issue out? inquiries to get to the truth, a

proper police investigation, no cover-up, and, y some frankness about what the politicians got wrong themselves. a relationship that became too close, too cozy, we were all in this world of wanting the support of newspaper groups. yes, even broadcasting organizations. wean we're doing that do we spend enough time of asking questions about how the organizations are regulated? no, we didn't. we have to. there's a new chance to do that. that's what i'm saying we will do today. >> briefly longhand, i screwed up. >> people will decide whether it's right to give someone a second chance or not. all i can tell you is the checks i made, questions i asked, the decision i made. the key thing is this, i think it's right to judge an individual by the work they did for me. if i had employed someone who was given a second chance, and when they worked for me they did terrible things, yes, i completely understand people

would really have a right to say why on earth did you do that? i took a conscious choice to give someone who had screwed up a second chance. he worked for me. he worked for me well but he decided in the end a second chance wouldn't work. he had to resign all over again for the first offense. that's the best way to describe it. >> nic robertson? >> at issue is your judgment. why did you believe a man who had resigned over hacking at the "news of the world" and why did you ignore those who told you it was much more widespread? and why do you now say as leader of the country you can't say anything about the planned takeover of one of the biggest broadcasters by an org nation th organization that has behaved

appallingly? >> first of all, why did i take this decision? i saw someone who had paid a price for what had gone wrong under his stewardship at "news of the world." who resigned because of what had gone wrong. remember, there was a police investigation. there was a trial. there was a member of the staff who was sent to prison. and andy caoulson said he did nt know what was going on at "news of the world". >> why did you ignore those people who said the hacking was widespread. you explained why you hired andy coulson, but you hired him when many people -- >> the decision to hire andy coulson, the former "news of the world" editor at center of the phone hacking allegations. we have been listening to a press conference as mr. cameron announces wide ranging investigations. he lays a problems at a whole

series of failure. a failure of the regulators to regulate the newspapers, a failure of the police to handle properly phone hacking allegations. he said the politicians were too keen to keep the path of the newspapers on side. one inquiry will be a full inquiry by a judge who looks at the police investigation and also looks at what happened to "news of the world." a second inquiry which will look at the entire regulation of newspapers. he said a full new regulatory system is needed for the british press. more on this story after this break. you have been watching "world business today."